Wrestling with Gravy: A Life, with Food

Always absorbing, often very funny, and surprisingly affecting, Wrestling with Gravy is a rich and wry memoir, seasoned with the zest of cooking, family, conversation–and lounging around in tryptophanic stupors. With droll self-effacement and a sharp eye for detail, former New York Times food columnist Jonathan Reynolds shares wonderful characters and anecdotes: He relives the time that his father made a move on his girlfriend during a meal at Maxim’s in Paris; extols the surprising virtues of baseball stadium cuisine (except in New York); and recounts how he once whipped up a seductive meal for a woman, only to have her excuse herself after dessert because she had another date lined up. Even on a glum Christmas day in New York City, and at the deathbed of his dear cousin the actress Lee Remick, food offers solace and a cathartic sense of home. Like a truly great meal, Wrestling with Gravy will entertain and satisfy any reader’s appetite.


Praise for Wrestling with Gravy:

“Reynolds writes about his rambunctious life with wit and gusto.”
–Entertainment Weekly

“An ingenious, multifaceted memoir, full of food and fury. It’s hilarious, tender, poignant, and tart–as nourishing as it is entertaining.”
–John Berendt, author of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

“Picaresque . . . Reynolds is at his best when purposefully entangling libido and linguine. . . . He’s expert at the confessional.”
–The New York Times Book Review

“Fun–and intimate . . . Big-name kitchens and celebrities . . . make appearances, and their recipes do, too.”
–The Washington Post Book World

“Reynolds tells the tale as well as sharing the recipe. Even if we don’t actually make his pissaladière au confit de canard or the simpler sea urchin ceviche, to read through the intricate steps in these preparations reminds readers of the drama and delight of great eating.”
–Publishers Weekly

“Consistently entertaining.”
–The Atlanta Journal-Constitution